'24' - '5:00 AM - 6:00 AM' Recap Season 8

'24' - '5:00 AM - 6:00 AM' Recap Season 8

Judging by tonight's ep, it looks like we can expect more lunacy and lazy story developments as '24' heads into its final hours. It's probably best for the show end its run after this season. At this point, '24' is merely recycling its once startling twists and turns, and the real-time gimmick has gotten stale. We have a new locale and a few new names and faces, but the tricks are all the same, and the suspense feels manufactured, cheap and forced. Fans can see the twists coming from hours away, even when they're as unbelievable and over the top as they have been this year.

Jack Bauer is long overdue for a trip to the big screen. Hopefully, the tired real-time dramatic device that has outworn its welcome on TV won't shackle the character once he jumps to the movies. I'd much rather see Kiefer battling the baddies in a dense, smartly paced thriller than sit through another ridiculous real-time setup.

That being typed, the show still knows how to deliver solid action and great gunplay. I loved watching Jack and Renee work together tonight to save Hassan and his family. Here's hoping we get more bullets, smoke bombs, and violence as the story continues.